First BYOD, now BYON poses security challenge

Like bring your own device (BYOD) before it, the march of bring your own network (BYON) is happening silently, stealthily and almost completely outside of management control.

Nearly all modern smartphones and 3/4G tablets can be instantly turned into wireless hot spots allowing them and any other wireless-enabled systems within range to be connected to the web, whether out in the field or at the workplace desk.

From an employee’s viewpoint this makes perfect sense. They may have been denied permission to connect their personal devices to the corporate network or do not want the hassle of seeking these approvals and have the company install control software on their personal devices.

They will be aware that many sites like social media, betting and music download sites are either blocked or have their use monitored.

And besides, their brand new 4G tariff gives them a cool 12Mbps speed with all-you-can-eat data – which is probably not true of the clunky corporate LAN struggling to deliver even one-tenth of that.

SOURCE: computerweekly.com